Members

Singing alone yesterday, together today

La Poem originated from a TV show "Phantom Singer – Season 3" (Phantom Singer 3) aired on a Korean TV network jtbc every Friday from April 10 to July 3 in 2020. The TV show auditions male singers and selects three teams of a quartet to compete in the end. Having two rounds of competition, La Poem won by the majority of votes of viewers of the show on July 3rd in 2020. 

Image from Chaehoon's instagram

The name La Poem came from a combination of the French word “la bohème" and the English word “poem,” signifying the group’s desire to sing without limits poem-like songs that can remain in everyone's heart. La Poem is currently managed and promoted by Moss Music under In Next Trend, Korea.

Members: Going beyond classical training (updated on Aug. 27, 2021)

• La Poem is composed of four classically-trained singers: two tenors Chaehoon You and Kihun Park, one baritone Minseong Jeong, and one countertenor Sunghoon Choi. The two tenors have different vocal types as Chaehoon is considered a leggero tenor and Kihun a spinto tenor. 

• La Poem is sometimes referred to as "gae-bam-yang-yong (개뱀양용, 🐕🐍🐑🐉)" informally by their fans (referred to as La Views) according to members' birth years represented by dog, snake, sheep, and dragon, respectively.

You, Chaehoon (유채훈)

Chaehoon, born in Oct. 16, 1988 (the year of dragon 🐉), went to Hanyang University in Seoul, Korea following Pohang High School of Arts located in his hometown Pohang, Korea. He was one of top students at the entry of the university. Yet, he tried hard to make his way out to popular music markets rather than classical music theaters. After college, he joined popera groups like Awesome and Ekklesia, but did not make any noticeable marks in the market. Chaehoon You’s celebrity status, albeit quite limited yet, finally took off after he sang Il Mondo at his first appearance on the TV show Phantom Singer 3. He has gained ardent supporters and fans since then. He is La Poem’s leader and introduces himself as a legendary tenor as he wishes to be. He is very much into photography, often taking pictures of the members of La Poem and natural things in everyday life (e.g., street scenes, people, ordinary objects). Many of his pictures can be found in his blog. (Yes, he is also a blogger.)

Since La Poem's debut, Chaehoon has been referred to as a rabbit, instead of a dragon, by his fans for the reason that he resembles a rabbit. He embraces the idea and even actively uses it when introducing himself. 

As of Aug. 24, 2021, he is a host of Culture Concert Nanjang, organized by Gwangju MBC, leading a live concert show every other week.

Park, Kihun (박기훈)

Kihun, born in Dec. 16, 1994 (the year of dog 🐕), went to Seoul National University in Seoul, Korea following Busan High School of Arts located in his hometown Busan, Korea. He graduated from the university as one of top students. He won many awards from many competitions domestically and internationally while being a university student. In particular, he was awarded Deuxieme Grand Prix (i.e., a runner-up) at the 51st International Singing Competition of Toulouse held in 2016. At that time, he was only 21 years of age. Kihun Park is the youngest member of La Poem and introduces himself as a bulkkot (meaning “flame”) tenor as his fiery vocal power signifies. 

Screenshot collage
Kihun recently claims himself that he is a tiger 😅. Lunch Attack (see the La Day page) prepared a cute toy, cat- (not tiger-) looking. He put it away and emphasized that he is a tiger. 😂

Jeong, Minseong (정민성)

Minseong, born in Sept. 26, 1991 (the year of sheep 🐑), went to Yonsei University in Seoul, Korea following Incheon High School of Arts in Incheon, Korea. He also won many awards from many singing competitions (e.g., the grand prize at Deagu singing competition in 2019). At the time of preliminary auditions of the TV show, he had just started more advanced singing training in Folkwang University of the Arts in Germany. As the audition took place in Germany, he went for it and was selected as one of thirty-six contestants. He initially wanted to take a leave of absence while participating in the show recorded in Korea. As the school did not allow it, he decided to drop and returned to Korea to compete. Minseong Jeong calls himself "Giyomi (meaning cutie) baritone". He also introduces himself as La Poem's column, meaning that his vocal type lays the foundation of their harmony as it is the lowest among the members.

Minseong is the only member who keeps the original animal sign sheep until now. His easygoing, relaxed character matches well with the image of sheep. But, this sheep has got dog's images mixed. These days La Views call him Yangmungyi (양뭉이), representing sheep by Yang and a dog by Mung. 

Choi, Sunghoon (최성훈)

Sunghoon, born in May 5, 1989 (the year of snake 🐍), went to Korea National University of Arts in Seoul, Korea following Gyeongbuk High School of Arts located in his hometown Daegu, Korea. Moving to France, he continued his singing study at City Conservatory of Paris for two years and at Centre of Baroque Music Versailles thereafter. He then moved to Switzerland and earned a master’s degree at Geneva University of Music. In living in Europe, Sunghoon Choi participated in many competitions, some of which awarded him the grand prize (e.g., Prix D'honneur from Leopold Bellan International Competition in 2015). He also performed on many stages as a soloist and an opera singer until his audition for the show held in London was successful and had to return to Korea to compete with the final contestants. He introduces himself as a mascot of La Poem as his vocal type adds unique flavors to their singing compared to typical male vocal quartets.   

Sunghoon has been referred to as a squirrel as the face of a squirrel is reminded by his chubby cheeks.

* The portraits presented here were taken by Chaehoon You and came from his instagram.